Cyprus: Court clears five Israelis accused of rape, citing inconsistencies

A Cyprus Court has on Monday March 31, 2025, acquitted five Israeli men accused of gang-raping a British woman.

According to media report, the decision comes after the court ruled that her testimony lacked credibility.

The defendants, aged between 19 and 20, were accused of assaulting the woman in a hotel on September 3, 2023.

The ruling cited that they cannot be tried again on the same charges, which included sexual assault and abduction.

According to Cyprus News Agency, the court found major contradictions in the woman’s statements.

Her identification of suspects was inconsistent.

The court noted her initial statement had weaknesses but did not immediately dismiss her allegations.

However, doubts increased when she provided contradictory explanations about suspect identification, including errors in a police line-up.

At first, she accused three men of rape but later claimed five were involved. Two were not even in the room.

Witness testimonies also contradicted her claims of screaming for help and someone opening the hotel room door.

The woman, 20 at the time, had consumed alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs, MDA and MDMA, known as “Sally” and “Molly.”

The court ruled the drug levels in her system were not enough to impair her ability to consent.

All five Israeli men denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Police reported that the woman identified them in a line-up.

She had claimed one of them took her by force.

The prosecutor alleged the suspects took turns assaulting her and she managed to escape by locking herself in the bathroom.

She also said she re-joined her friends before reporting the incident to the police.

The ruling follows a European Court of Human Rights judgment.

It found Cyprus authorities failed to properly investigate a similar 2019 case.

In that case, another British woman accused Israeli men of gang-raping her during a vacation in Ayia Napa.

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